We are thus plunged into a skeptical mood about reality and the external world, for there is nothing we can say about them apart from Da-sein as being-in-the-world. This seems a bit unsettling. Without absolute grounds that can be identified and expressed, we seem to be aimlessly positioned in a universe without meaning. Tension arises. Moreover, rekindling the fire of dogmatism in a desperate attempt at demanding more will avail us little. In fact, Heidegger says, it is a "scandal of philosophy" when we demand proofs of the external world and refutations of skepticism to alleviate the anxious condition in which we find ourselves when, in the existential analytic of Da-sein as being-in-the-world, realism and idealism collapse.

¶ 7:00 AM